Department for Transport

Department for Transport: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on how many occasions a special adviser in his Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

Mr Robert Goodwill: A Special Adviser has accompanied the Secretary of State only once on an overseas trip since May 2015. The practice of Special Advisers accompanying the Secretary of State on overseas visits where there is a business need is long-established and has operated as such under various administrations including the previous Labour administration.

Cycling: Finance

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to spread the £300 million for cycling announced in the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 over five or six years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government has agreed a four-year revenue and five-year capital settlement for local transport spend, which includes cycling and walking investment.

Buses

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of buses in England are (a) zero-emission capable, (b) Euro 4 or above and (c) hybrid diesel-electric.

Andrew Jones: We do not hold detailed numbers on the information requested. However, in relation to points (a) zero –emission capable and (c) hybrid diesel-electric we understand that over one hundred zero-emission capable buses and over 1300 hybrid diesel-electric buses are currently in service in England.This Government is continuing to build on the good work of the Coalition government, which saw nearly £60million grants awarded through the Green Bus Fund to help purchase around 900 low carbon buses. In addition, around £14million was allocated to help modify over 900 buses outside of London to significantly reduce their emissions and to upgrade over 400 London buses with pollution reducing technology, following £5m (match funded by the GLA) of earlier funding to upgrade 900 buses in London. This Government will shortly announce the winning bids for the second round of the Clean Bus Technology Fund.

Public Transport: Disability

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent monitoring he has undertaken of the Accessibility Action Plan; and if he will make it his policy to publish annual updates on such monitoring.

Andrew Jones: This Government is committed to continuing improving disabled people’s access to public transport services. We are working with the Disabled People’s Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC) to revamp next year the Department for Transport’s first-ever Accessibility Action Plan, which was initiated under the Coalition government, including consideration about how we monitor progress against it.

Motor Vehicles: Safety

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what correspondence he has had with Vauxhall on Vauxhall Zafira car safety issues; and what steps he has taken to help deal with those issues.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) is in regular contact with Vauxhall regarding their investigation into the cause of the fires. Vauxhall are continuing their action of notifying owners of Zafira's, requesting the return of the vehicle to a franchised dealer for inspection of the heating and ventilation system.DVSA have a forthcoming meeting with Vauxhall to evaluate early evidence from the fire damaged vehicles and those vehicles examined as part of the pro-active action. DVSA will continue to work with the manufacturer to identify the cause of the fires and agree an action going forward to address the issue.

Thameslink Railway Line: Standards

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to adverse weather conditions in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to problems with the line infrastructure in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Claire Perry: The latest rail reporting period was 18th October to 14th November. There were 757 full and 1,623 part cancellations attributed to Network Rail causes. The causes include infrastructure failures, poor railhead conditions, external incidents (e.g. trespass and vandalism) and adverse weather related incidents. The Department does not hold disaggregated data that shows individual causes. The latest rail reporting period was 18th October to 14th November. There were 757 full and 1,623 part cancellations attributed to Network Rail causes. The causes include infrastructure failures, poor railhead conditions, external incidents (e.g. trespass and vandalism) and adverse weather related incidents. The Department does not hold disaggregated data that shows individual causes.

Thameslink Railway Line: Standards

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions Ministers have had with Govia Thameslink on improving the punctuality and reliability of that company's train service in the last six months.

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve reliability and punctuality of the Govia Thameslink rail line.

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to require improvement of the punctuality and reliability of Govia Thameslink train services.

Claire Perry: I am chairing a monthly meeting involving Network Rail, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), Southeastern and Transport Focus to monitor and co-ordinate improvements in both performance and passenger experience in the South East. This work builds upon the Joint Improvement Plan that was developed in the Spring. This Group is absolutely committed to see improvement and, crucially, to make sure that rail customers see the benefits of these improvements.GTR failed to meet their benchmark for cancellations set out in their Franchise Agreement and in the view of the Secretary of State they are also likely to exceed their delay minutes benchmark in the near future. In order to address their poor performance and hold them to account we issued them with a Remedial Plan Notice that requires them to set out the measures they will take to improve their performance. GTR have submitted their plan and once the measures are agreed by the Secretary of State they will become contractually binding through a Remedial Agreement. Officials regularly monitor GTR’s performance and this will include the delivery of the measures and performance improvements agreed through the Remedial Plan. Non-compliance may result in further enforcement action in line with the Franchise Agreement should the need arise.Network Rail’s performance is regulated by the Office of Rail and Road, who have recently agreed a £4.1m package of improvements to be delivered by Network Rail on the Southern part of GTR franchise area in order to address performance issues.

Thameslink Railway Line: Standards

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to driver shortage in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to driver shortage in the most recent four time periods for which figures are available.

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to driver illness in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Claire Perry: Figures for driver attributed cancellations the whole of the TSGN franchise in the last four periods are below. This data represents the first four periods since Southern Railway joined Govia Thameslink Railway at the end of July. This data does not differentiate between cancellations due to driver shortage and operational issues.  Rail Period 1605 26/7-22/8Rail Period 1606 23/8-19/9Rail Period 1607 20/9-17/10Rail Period 1608 18/10-14/11Full cancellations10931331723706Part cancellations458410406411Total1551174111291117The Department does not hold information on cancellations due to sickness.

Tonnage Tax

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what each of the flag registers of vessels owned by company groups that qualified for inclusion in the tonnage scheme in 2014-15 was; and how many vessels in that scheme were registered under each of those flags.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The ships which company groups anticipated would be included in the tonnage tax at the beginning of the 2014-15 training commitment year were under the following flags: United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Marshall Islands, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Singapore. The identity of tonnage tax groups is tax confidential, and that confidentiality could be compromised by giving a detailed breakdown by flag of the numbers of vessels entered in tonnage tax. I am therefore unable to disclose the numbers of vessels registered under each flag.

M61

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 16383, what assessment his Department has made of the levels of traffic flow and congestion within Horwich arising from the decision not to construct Junction 7 on the M61.

Andrew Jones: As Horwich lies within the Metropolitan Borough Council of Bolton, it is for Bolton Council, as the traffic authority for the area, working with TfGM, to consider the traffic flows within Horwich. The decision not to build Junction 7 was taken in the 1960s, but Highways England will re-assess the pressures on and needs of the M61 along with all other parts of the strategic road network in the course of its future development of route strategies. When the next round of Highways England’s Route Strategies commences early in 2016, there will be an opportunity to make the case for the creation of a Junction 7.

Shipping: Registration

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he plans to increase UK Ship Register fees in the next financial year.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is discussing potential increases in its fees, including the UK Ship Register fees, with other government departments ahead of a consultation exercise with the shipping industry and other stakeholders.

Bus Services: Disability

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will introduce financial incentives for bus and coach companies to bring forward capital investment in Passenger Service Vehicles Accessibility Regulations-compliant vehicles ahead of the deadline for compliance of January 2017.

Andrew Jones: By January 2017 all buses designed to carry over twenty-two passengers on local or scheduled services must comply with the Passenger Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR). Bus operators have had a long time to prepare for these new duties, and around 89% of vehicles are already compliant compared to just 59% in 2009/10. We have no plans to introduce financial incentives ahead of the deadline.

Bus Services: Wheelchairs

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will implement a nationwide campaign asking people to make space for wheelchairs in wheelchair areas of buses.

Andrew Jones: Under the Passenger Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations (PSVAR) all compliant buses must include a designated space for wheelchair users. Rules concerning the use of this facility are currently the subject of a case at the Supreme Court and it would be inappropriate for Government to intervene until it has been resolved.

Bus Services: Competition

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the implications for competition in the bus market of (a) voluntary partnership agreements and (b) statutory quality partnerships; and what account he plans to take of those implications in framing legislation on bus franchising.

Andrew Jones: Competition issues in bus partnerships are primarily a matter for the Competition and Markets Authority and for the local authorities involved in the partnership concerned. I anticipate that the Buses Bill will include new measures on partnership working between local transport authorities and bus operators.The aim of these measures would be to facilitate more effective partnershipdevelopment between local authorities and bus operators, resulting in better quality bus services for passengers, whilst ensuring fair bus market competition.Under a bus franchising regime competition would be for, rather than within, the bus market. The competition issues that apply are therefore materially different from those associated with partnerships arrangements between bus operators and local authorities.

Thameslink Railway Line: Standards

Nadine Dorries: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many trains were cancelled on the Govia Thameslink rail line due to there being no trains available to operate services in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Claire Perry: In rail period 1608 (18 October – 14 November) there were 448 full and 403 part cancellations attributed to rolling stock fleet causes. These figures include cancellations made for service recovery reasons where the initial incident was caused by rolling stock failure.

Tonnage Tax

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of UK seafarer (a) ratings and (b) officers were employed on category one Red Ensign Group registered vessels that qualified for the tonnage tax scheme in each year since 2000-01.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Department does not collect the information requested. As the identity of tonnage tax groups is tax confidential, we would not be able to disclose the information requested, if it were available, as it might make it possible to identify individual tonnage tax groups.

Tonnage Tax

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of UK seafarer (a) ratings and (b) officers were employed on UK registered vessels that qualified for the tonnage tax scheme in each year since 2000-01.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Statistical estimates for the number of UK nationals employed as seafarers are available for calendar years from 2002 onwards. Data for 2015 is not yet available. Tonnage tax companies are required annually to inform the Department of the numbers of UK seafarers employed on their ships, as at 1 October each year. The table below gives an extrapolation of these figures to estimate the number and percentage of UK seafarer ratings and officers who were employed on UK registered vessels entered in the tonnage tax in each year from 2002 to 2014.Number of UK nationals employed as seafarers: 2002 – 20142002200320042005200620072008Total UK ratings19,51010,49010,4309,3809,7508,1509,330UK ratings employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax2Not available1,5901,6041,3561,8032,0091,955Percentage of total UK ratings employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage taxNot available15.215.414.518.524.621.0Total UK officers (Certificated and uncertificated) 115,19016,85016,41016,15016,03013,89014,180UK officers employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax2Not available2,3372,4352,3422,3802,4382,367Percentage of total UK officers employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage taxNot available13.914.814.514.817.616.7200920102011201220132014Total UK ratings110,40011,34011,8809,3308,5908,420UK ratings employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax21,8541,8861,6461,6631,5481,324Percentage of total UK ratings employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax17.816.613.917.818.015.7Total UK officers (Certificated and uncertificated) 114,54014,30013,32012,61012,26012,560UK officers employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax22,2012,0781,8691,8351,5831,418Percentage of total UK officers employed on UK registered vessels in the tonnage tax15.114.514.014.612.911.3Notes:Numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. Components may not sum to the totals due to rounding.Tonnage tax figures are as at 1 October of the year in question.Statistics for totals of Ratings and Uncertificated Officers are based on numbers employed by members of the UK Chamber of Shipping. No adjustment has been made for UK nationals employed by companies which are not members of the UK Chamber of Shipping.Statistics for Certificated Officers are based on certification data supplied by the MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency). Because certificates are valid for 5 years from the date of validation, for the purposes of these statistics it has been assumed that officers holding certificates retire from service at sea at age 62, and that 16 per cent of other officers with valid certificates are not actively employed at sea at any one time.At any time the number employed will be larger than the number actually serving on ship because of the need to have "relief" employees to cover shore leave.Sources: UK Seafarer Statistics 2014, DfT; tonnage tax company returns to DfT

Tonnage Tax

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of vessels that qualified for the tonnage tax scheme were registered under each flag in category one of the Red Ensign Group in each year since 2008-09.

Mr Robert Goodwill: There is no direct requirement as to the country of registration of vessels entered in the tonnage tax scheme. While the tonnage tax has helped in the revival of the UK shipping register, it has also attracted inward investment from companies operating vessels of other flags, which we welcome. The identity of tonnage tax groups is tax confidential, and that confidentiality could be compromised by giving a detailed breakdown by flag of the numbers of qualifying vessels in any year.

Tonnage Tax

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of UK seafarer (a) ratings and (b) officers were employed on non-UK registered vessels that qualified for the tonnage tax scheme in each year since 2000-01.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Statistical estimates for the number of UK nationals employed as seafarers are available for calendar years from 2002 onwards. Data for 2015 is not yet available. Tonnage tax companies are required annually to inform the Department of the numbers of UK seafarers employed on their ships, as at 1 October each year. The table attached gives an extrapolation of these figures to estimate the number and percentage of UK seafarer ratings and officers who were employed on non-UK registered vessels entered in the tonnage tax in each year from 2002 to 2014.



Table
(PDF Document, 15.59 KB)

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Staff

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many staff were employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The figures below provide details of how many staff were employed by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in each of the last five years.Year:Headcount:Full time equivalent: 2010-114912 (2607+2305)4669.11 (2434.16+2234.95)2011-124832 (2584+2248)4544.03 (2407.61+2136.42)2012-134715 (2450+2265)4451.75 (2273.07+2178.68)2013-144545 (2277+2268)4304.19 (2123.53+2180.66)2014-1545264266.28The figures in brackets are to show the break-down of staff members before the merger of the Vehicle and Operators Service Agency and the Driving Standards Agency.

Newcastle Station

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 November 2015 to Question 17745, whether provision was made for investments in Newcastle Station with a payback period longer than the East Coast Franchise Agreement, when his Department concluded that Virgin Trains East Coast were the best value to the public purse and passengers to continue as manager of that station.

Claire Perry: Mechanisms exist within the Franchise Agreement that allow stakeholders and operators to propose long term investments with payback periods beyond the length of the Franchise term. We are encouraging such investment proposals at Newcastle station.

Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency: Working Hours

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the average number of hours worked by Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency staff in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Jones: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has not made an estimate on the average number of hours worked by its members of staff in each of the last five years.

Driving: EU Law

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the exemption for light goods vehicles from tachograph and EC driver rule requirements has not been extended to passenger carrying vehicles (PCVs); and if he will take steps to extend the exemption to PCVs.

Andrew Jones: Small passenger carrying vehicles, with 8 or less passenger seats (like light goods vehicles, weighing less than 3.5 tonnes), are also exempt from the EU drivers’ hours rules and the need to use a tachograph. In addition, vehicles with between 10 and 17 seats used exclusively for the non-commercial carriage of passengers are also exempt from the EU rules, along with vehicles used for the carriage of passengers on regular routes, where the route covered does not exceed 50km (local bus services).

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that consumers can have confidence in vehicle emissions data.

Andrew Jones: Consumers must be able to trust data provided to inform their purchasing decisions. That is why the government pushed in Europe for the recently agreed changes to the way emissions are measured. I am pleased that real driving emissions will be measured from 2017 but, in the meantime, officials are retesting the emission performance of the most popular vehicles in Great Britain. We will publish a report of this work in spring 2016.

Railways: Compensation

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the passenger compensation regime for train delays and cancellations.

Claire Perry: In our manifesto we committed to improve compensation for delayed rail passengers. We have already changed the system to get compensation paid in cash, not travel vouchers, and we are putting new compensation obligations like automatic delay/repay into franchise specifications.We will negotiate hard with rail operators to get even better compensation arrangements for passengers but also focus on what we all want which is to have the trains run on time.

Motor Vehicles: Exhaust Emissions

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what progress his Department has made on the motor vehicle emissions retesting programme.

Mr Patrick McLoughlin: The Secretary of State for Transport’s written statement of 10 Nov 2015 advised that the programme was underway and that he would keep the House informed of progress.The Vehicle Certification Agency has tested 7 independently sourced vehicles at a commercial laboratory. Two more laboratories will increase the volume of tests in the New Year. We intend to test approximately 40 vehicles and a report will be published next spring.

National Air Traffic Services

Martyn Day: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what timetable the Government plans to follow for the proposed sale of its share in NATS.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Government is currently committed to exploring the sale of its 49% shareholding in NATS and maximise returns to the taxpayer.We have not yet set a timetable for the sale.

Home Office

Home Office: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on how many occasions a special adviser in her Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

Karen Bradley: As has been the case under successive Administrations, civil servants, including special advisers, may routinely accompany their Ministers on official visits.Information relating to Ministers' overseas visits are published on www.gov.uk, as part of the Government’s wider transparency agenda.All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Merchant Shipping

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the National Maritime Information Centre holds live records on the range of merchant shipping that is UK-owned.

James Brokenshire: The National Maritime Information Centre (NMIC) plays an integral role in the delivery of the UK National Strategy for Maritime Security. One of the NMIC’s roles is to monitor and track maritime activity around the UK and in areas of national interest around the globe in response to taskings from Government departments or agencies. This is achieved by using a variety of systems which include the interpretation of Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder data which enables the NMIC to identify and monitor all vessels transmitting on the AIS system. The systems available to the NMIC can identify all Red Ensign Group vessels using AIS, that is vessels registered on one of the international shipping registries operated by the UK (including a Crown Dependency or an Overseas Territory). There are vessels owned by UK entities that are registered in other states and therefore fly the flag of that state. It may not be immediately apparent that such vessels have a UK owner, however, they will still appear on the NMIC systems.

Asylum: Syria

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 3 December 2015 to Question 18224, how many local authorities have indicated that they wish to participate in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 09 December 2015



This is a voluntary scheme whereby local authorities sign up to accept refugees on a voluntary basis. Although we do not propose to give a running commentary on the number of local authorities that have indicated they wish to participate in the scheme we can confirm that as of 7 December 2015, 55 local authorities had signed up to participate in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme and had provided confirmed offers of places.

Counter-terrorism

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Prime Minister's oral contribution of 2 December 2015 on ISIL in Syria, Official Report, column 323, what the seven locations are in the UK where the security services have stopped terrorist attacks; and in which months each such attempted attack was stopped.

Mr John Hayes: In line with our longstanding practice, it would be inappropriate to comment further on operational matters.

Children: Protection

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she intends to respond to the report of the Children's Commissioner, Protecting children from harm, published in November 2015.

Karen Bradley: Holding answer received on 10 December 2015



The report captures the findings from the first part of the Children’s Commissioner’s inquiry into child sexual abuse in the family environment. The Government will give careful consideration to the findings of the full inquiry when it is completed in December 2016.

UK Border Force: Surveillance

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the oral contribution of 16 November 2015, Official Report, column 393, on the Paris terrorist attacks, what capabilities for Border Force maritime aerial surveillance are needed; and whether those capabilities are fewer than under the present contract.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Refugees: Syria

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, from which countries the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme accepts UNHCR referrals.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 10 December 2015



We work closely with the UNHCR to identify cases that they deem in need of resettlement. We take refugees that UNHCR have referred from the region, from Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt. This provides refugees with a more direct and safe route to the UK, rather than risking the hazardous journey to Europe.

Refugees: Syria

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether additional financial support is available to local authorities who participate in the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme to assist them with housing Syrian refugees.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 10 December 2015



The first 12 months of each refugee’s resettlement costs are met from the UK’s overseas aid budget. At the Spending Review, government committed £129m to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 of the scheme. This is a substantial level of funding which will enable local authorities to support these vulnerable people as they rebuild their lives in safe and secure surroundings, among supportive communities in the UK.

Vetting

Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many disclosure and barring applications have been sent to the Metropolitan Police in each year of the last five years; and what the average time taken by the Metropolitan Police to process checks for Disclosure and Barring Service applications was in each of those years.

Karen Bradley: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Seas and Oceans: Security

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to paragraph 1.17 of the UK National Strategy for Maritime Security, published in May 2014, how many meetings there have been of the ministerial working group on maritime security.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: As Chairman, I write to the members of the Ministerial Working Group on maritime security biannually with operational and policy updates, the most recent of these was on 19 November. The Ministerial Working Group intends to meet in 2016 to discuss the implications of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Islamic State: Finance

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what non-military steps he is taking to prevent Daesh from selling oil; and what steps his Department is taking to prevent Daesh raising capital to finance their activities by other means.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We hold regular bilateral and multilateral discussions on Daesh funding, including within the Global Coalition’s Counter ISIL Finance Group, which is co-chaired by the US, Saudi Arabia and Italy. Daesh has three main sources of funding: extortion from communities living in territory under its control; selling oil and antiquities; and donations from individuals. The UK has led efforts to create and enforce an international sanctions regime to cut off financial support for Daesh and other terrorist groups. We work with allies, particularly in the region, to ensure sanctions are enforced and that measures are being taken to stop the Daesh trade in oil and hydrocarbon products. Examples of this work include training local customs officials in the region to prevent oil smuggling. We are also focused on ensuring that individuals involved in brokering oil deals between Daesh and the Assad regime have been or will be sanctioned by the EU.

Libya: Politics and Government

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2015 to Question 18323, what assessment  his Department has made of progress on establishing a government of national accord in Libya; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We urgently need to see a conclusion to the UN-led political process and the formation of a Government of National Accord in Libya. The Libyan Political Agreement announced at Skhirat in October is the only basis for peace and security in Libya, and only a Government of National Accord can begin the difficult work of establishing effective, legitimate governance, restoring stability and tackling the threat posed by Daesh. The Rome Conference co-chaired by Italy, the US, and the UN on 13 December will be an opportunity to demonstrate the determination of the international community on the way forward. The UK has been at the forefront of efforts to coordinate international support for a unity Government.

Libya

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 4 December 2015 to Question 18326, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the territory held by Daesh and affiliated groups across Libya; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are extremely concerned about the growing threat from extremist groups in Libya, including Daesh and groups affiliated with it. These groups pose a threat to the stability of Libya and the region, and potentially to the UK and our interests and citizens overseas. We are working closely with international partners to deepen our understanding of Daesh’s presence in Libya, including in Sirte, and to develop a comprehensive approach to defeat it. This includes working closely with Libya’s neighbours to enhance their ability to protect themselves from terrorists in Libya. We are supporting UN-led efforts to establish a Government of National Accord (GNA) in Libya, which will be crucial in the long term to tackling the Daesh threat present in that country and across the region.

Northern Ireland Office

Infrastructure: Northern Ireland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps her Department has taken to promote use of the UK Guarantees Scheme in Northern Ireland.

Mr Ben Wallace: In the Northern Ireland economic pact, Building a Prosperous and United Community, the Government committed to applying its Infrastructure Guarantee Scheme flexibly to ensure that locally or regionally significant projects in Northern Ireland will be eligible.

Attorney General

Evidence

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Attorney General, what factors the Crown Prosecution Service takes into account when assessing the reliability of evidence which is more than 30 years old.

Robert Buckland: Evidence is assessed in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors in arriving at a decision whether to prosecute a case. A prosecutor will look at whether the evidence is admissible in court, its importance in relation to the evidence as a whole, its reliability, accuracy, integrity and credibility. It is the duty of prosecutors to make sure that the right person is prosecuted for the right offence and to bring offenders to justice wherever possible. In doing so a prosecutor must be satisfied that there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and that a prosecution is in the public interest.

Armed Conflict: Human Rights

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Attorney General, what discussions he has had with the Secretaries of State for Defence and International Development on ensuring that full and proper account is taken of the importance of international humanitarian law in areas of potential conflict and war.

Jeremy Wright: I meet regularlywith Ministerial colleagues to discuss important issues of common interest, including on international humanitarian law. I am not able to talk about any legal content of those discussions because, by convention, whether the Law Officers have given advice or not is not disclosed outside Government. All legal advice provided by the Law Officers is confidential and subject to legal professional privilege.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Public Houses: Training

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will have discussions with pub chains on training staff to identify people with suicidal tendencies in order to stop serving such people alcohol.

Anna Soubry: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has no plans to undertake such discussions but as part of the continuing programme of work to support the government’s suicide prevention strategy, Public Health England has published guidance for local authorities to develop local suicide prevention action plans. The guidance suggests that local authorities establish a local suicide prevention group and work with relevant organisations in their area to co-ordinate activities to reduce suicide. Those groups can work with landlords and pub managers.

Small Businesses: Finance

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment his Department has conducted of the adequacy of the level of financial support offered to small businesses that have been in operation for two years or less; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: The Government recognises that new businesses can encounter difficulties in obtaining the finance they need to start-up or grow. However I am encouraged that net lending to smaller businesses has been recovering strongly since the end of 2014. The Bank of England has reported that credit conditions for SMEs seeking finance are improving and the SME Finance Monitor shows that 80% of SME loan and overdraft applications were successful in the 18 months to 2015 Q3, up from 68% in Q4 2013.Latest figures show that net SME lending from banks participating in the Funding for Lending Scheme grew by £675m in the third quarter and the Bank of England recently announced that allowances earned by banks for increasing their net lending under the scheme will be available to draw down for a further two years. The government also continues to fund start-up loans, with more than 33,000 loans worth over £180 million issued so far and a target to deliver 75,000 loans by the end of the parliament.I am also encouraged by our growing alternative finance sector, with the UK the leading fin tech centre of Europe.A recent report from the Legatum Institute rated the UK as the best country in the EU in which to start a business and the government will continue to back our small businesses to start and grow.

Social Mobility

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 19 October 2015 to Question 11065 and with reference to the Social Mobility and Child Poverty Commission's report, Downward Mobility, Opportunity Hoarding and the Glass Floor, published in June 2015, what discussions the Government has had with the devolved administrations on that report's findings that children from better-off families are hoarding opportunities in the education system and in the labour market.

Nick Boles: There have been no discussions with devolved administrations specifically in relation to this report.However, it should be noted that many key levers for improving social mobility such as apprenticeships, traineeships and higher education have some degree of devolution across the UK and so policy decisions on these issues should be referred to the relevant devolved administration.

UK Trade and Investment: Staff

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many UK Trade and Investment staff worked in each of the industrial sectors on 1 April 2015; and what the budget for each such sector is in 2015-16.

Anna Soubry: UK Trade & Investment supports eleven sectors, and other priority sectors, such as creative industries and the information economy.We are working with a number of other Government departments to ensure companies of all sectors are represented in Government efforts overseas.The table below shows the number of staff on 1 April 2015 and the most recent budget information for our core sector teams and investment organisations. StaffBudget, £mConsumer, Retail & E-exporting115.7Creative Industries & Global Sports & Construction253.1UKTI Education81.0Energy & Transport273.7Healthcare UK131.6Information Economy162.9Advanced Manufacturing81.2UKTI Agri-Tech Organisation31.2UKTI Automotive Investment Organisation51.7UKTI Financial Services Organisation81.7Innovation Gateway71.3UKTI Life Science Organisation92.2UKTI Offshore Wind Investment Organisation21.1UKTI Regeneration Investment Organisation11.4

UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, how many staff worked for the UK Trade and Investment Defence and Security Organisation on 1 April 2015; and what the budget of that organisation is for 2015-16.

Anna Soubry: At 1 April 2015 the UK Trade & Investment Defence and Security Organisation had 140 staff-in-post. As at 1 April the 2015-16 budget for UKTI DSO was £9.75M NET.

Living Wage

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the Answer of 14 September 2015 to Question 8893, when he plans to publish the impact assessment for the introduction of the national living wage; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Boles: The Government has published a full impact assessment alongside draft regulations to implement the National Living Wage. These documents were laid before Parliament on Monday 7 December 2015. Regulations will be debated in both Houses of Parliament in time to come into force on 1 April 2016.

STEM Subjects: Higher Education

Chris White: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to increase participation in part-time higher education courses in STEM subjects.

Joseph Johnson: This year we relaxed the Equivalent and Lower Qualification (ELQ) rule for part time students taking engineering, technology and computer science courses. This means that students who already hold a degree will be able to access student support. At the Autumn Statement we announced a further relaxation to the eligibility rules so that students who already hold a degree can from 2017/18 access student support for part time study of other STEM subjects. These changes do not affect those undertaking full time study.

Neurology: Research

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of his Department's science budget was spent on neurological research in the period from 2010 to 2014.

Joseph Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Torfaen (Mr Nick Thomas-Symonds) on 7 December in response to question 18131.

Parkinson's Disease: Dementia

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether the proposed Dementia Research Institute will conduct research into Parkinson's dementia as an integral part of its work; and if (a) he and (b) the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences will meet Parkinson's UK to discuss the work of the Institute.

Joseph Johnson: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Torfaen (Mr Nick Thomas-Symonds) on 7 December to question UIN 18130.The Department would welcome a discussion with Parkinson’s UK on the work of the Dementia Research Institute, and I encourage them to write to arrange a meeting.

Department for International Development

Roads: Safety

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department plans to take account of the conclusions of the United Nations/World Health Organisation Second Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety when preparing the UK's response to the next set of Sustainable Development Goals.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Road traffic injuries cost developing countries an estimated 1-2% of their gross national product, equivalent to over US$100 billion annually, with a widening of the disparity between advanced and developing countries. Road accidents kill an estimated 1.3 million people and injure up to 78 million people each year.We are pleased that the burden of road crashes has been recognised in the Sustainable Development Goals and we are committed to supporting the international community to achieve the target of halving the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents by 2020.DFID recently increased its funding to the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF) hosted at the World Bank and will contribute £4.5 million between 2013 and 2017. The GRSF provides funding, knowledge, and technical assistance that lever road safety investments into transport sector programmes.We also focus on road safety through our research and evidence portfolio. For example our programme on High Volume Transport and the programme “Research for Community Access Partnership” (ReCAP) both have strong road safety research components. DFID also supports a programme in Nepal working to improve road infrastructure for road safety on a critical section of Nepal’s national network.

Pakistan: Education

Mr Douglas Carswell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 17 September 2015 to Question 9945, who conducted the independent evaluations of 2007 and 2013; against what criteria the evaluations concluded that the curriculum promoted values of democracy, pluralism and peace; and what sources of information other than those independent evaluations her Department used to assess the quality of the curriculum in Khyber, Pakhtunkwa and Punjab.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The independent evaluations were conducted by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the delivery agency of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, as part of their regular reporting to the National Education Development Partners Group (NEDPG) in Pakistan.The NEDPG, which consists of both bilateral and multilateral donors, including the UK, UNESCO, UNICEF, The World Bank, the US, Germany and Australia, has prioritised scrutiny of the curriculum in its dialogue with the government of Pakistan. There is an implicit set of internationally agreed professional norms and standards for all aspects of education, set through the UNESCO Annual Global Monitoring Reports against which conclusions can be drawn.While GIZ has led evaluation on behalf of the Partners Group, other members carry out reviews of the education sector, including curriculum quality, and these are pooled and used by all. In addition, DFID staff scrutinise the curriculum and its implementation as part of regular monitoring of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa education programmes.

Department for Education

Primary Education: Admissions

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 15419, and with reference to the Answer of 20 March 2015 to Question 227869, how many planning areas in England are in need of additional primary school places by September 2016; how many such areas have never had an application to open a primary or all-through mainstream free school; and how many of such areas have no open primary or all-through mainstream free schools.

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2015 to Question 15418, and with reference to the Answer of 20 March 2015 to Question 227869, how many planning areas in England are in need of additional secondary school places by September 2016; how many such areas have never had an application to open a secondary or all-through mainstream free school; and how many of such areas have no open secondary or all-through mainstream free schools.

Edward Timpson: The department publishes local authority basic need scorecards for primary schools, based on data provided by local authorities. The latest scorecards contain departmental estimates of the number of additional primary school places needed to meet demand in 2016/17, once existing capacity and plans for new places at 1 May 2014 have been factored in. The data and details of the methodology used for the estimates can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/primary-school-places-local-authority-basic-need-scorecards-2014.The scorecard summary data shows that across England 63,100 additional primary places were estimated to be needed to meet demand in 2016/17, based on capacity and planned places at May 2014. The department’s estimates show that the 63,100 additional primary places needed were spread across 1,518 (out of a total of 2,444) primary planning areas where one or more places was required. Of these 1,518 planning areas, 60 areas contain free schools that have opened up to and including September 2014.In the early stages of the free school policy, proposer groups were not obliged to provide a specific site for their proposed school so we are unable to ascertain the number of planning areas in need of additional school places in 2016 where there has never been a free school application.Many free schools will have opened in response to past need for new school places in planning areas, which now no longer display future need as a result. It is worth noting that planning areas are set by local authorities, and can change from year to year.Every free school has been opened in response to either the need to provide extra school places, the need to provide parents with greater choice or the need to provide more high quality school places. 83% of free schools approved since January 2014 are in areas where there was a recognised need for additional school places. 74% of open mainstream free schools are in areas where there was a need for additional school places. There are currently 104 mainstream free schools in the pipeline, of which 64 are primary or all-through schools.Many local authorities are recognising the opportunity that the free schools programme provides and are encouraging new and existing high quality education providers to apply to set up a new school in their area. We encourage all local authorities to do likewise.The department does not currently publish basic need scorecards for secondary school places. Of the 998 secondary planning areas, 84 had at least one open mainstream secondary or all through free school by September 2014.

Department for Education: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, on how many occasions a special adviser in her Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

Nick Gibb: On one occasion since May 2015 a special adviser employed by the Department for Education has accompanied the Minister for Childcare and Education on an overseas visit to France.

Higher Education: Admissions

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of decoupling AS Levels and A Levels on university admissions procedures.

Nick Boles: Ofqual published an impact assessment on A level reform in November 2012. This can be found on GOV.UK: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140813095715/http://ofqual.gov.uk/qualifications-and-assessments/qualification-reform/a-level-reform/.This assessment found that AS levels do not play a significant role in admissions processes, for most universities. It is for individual higher education institutions to determine their own admission arrangements.We are working with universities and UCAS to ensure universities are informed of the changes to AS and A Levels when they make decisions about those arrangements.

Schools

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 2.64 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, which education-related statutory duties on local authorities she plans to remove; and if she will make a statement.

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to paragraph 2.64 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, how she plans to make £600 million savings from the Education Services Grant; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Savings of £600 million will be made by reducing the Education Services Grant (ESG), including phasing out the additional funding that goes to schools and local authorities. We will be making a small efficiency saving (around £80 million) from the ESG in 2016-17, and will be setting out our proposals for savings from 2017-18 in the New Year. This will include consulting on the details of the statutory duties that will be removed.

Mental Health: Children

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of poor mental health on the education outcomes of children up to 18 years old.

Mr Sam Gyimah: An estimated 1 in 10 children have a diagnosable mental health disorder, and more have lower level problems. We know that all forms of mental health disorder in children are associated with disruption to education and absence from school. We also know there is a strong association between conduct disorders in adolescence and a lack of qualifications in early adulthood.This is why the government has made good mental health, character and resilience a high priority. We want all children and young people to be able to fulfil their potential both academically and in terms of their mental wellbeing. The Department of Health has committed an additional £1.4 billion of funding which will be used to help radically improve mental health services for children, young people and new mothers over the next 5 years.Schools and colleges have an important role to play in supporting the resilience and mental health of children and young people. To support schools develop approaches that suit the particular needs of their students we have:contributed £1.5 million to a joint pilot for training single points of contact in schools and specialist mental health services to ensure that children and young people have timely access to specialist support where needed;funded guidance and lesson plans to support age-appropriate teaching about mental health;published guidance on the provision of high quality counselling in schools, and mental health and behaviour;provided funding worth £4.9 million this year, through a dedicated mental health strand within our VCS programme, to support 17 projects delivering a wide range of support across the country to children and young people with mental health issues. These include projects to promote positive mental health in schools with organisations such as MIND and Place2Be.

Ministry of Justice

Prisoners: Lancashire

Julie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many children in (a) Burnley and (b) Lancashire have mothers who are serving prison sentences.

Caroline Dinenage: The specific information requested is not held. However, the Ministry of Justice has recently published statistics on child dependents of female offenders. These statistics can be located at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/female-offenders-and-child-dependents

Criminal Proceedings: Fees and Charges

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much has accrued to the public purse from criminal courts charges since their introduction.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people owe money to his Department in criminal courts charge impositions; what proportion of those people were convicted in (i) magistrates court and (b) a crown court; and what the total amount of outstanding debt is owed in criminal courts charges.

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have been levied the criminal courts charge for offences (a) under Section 363 of the Communications Act 2003, (b) under Section 1(10) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, (c) under Section 8 of the Disorderly Houses Act 1751, (d) under Sections 1, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14 and 18 of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968, (e) for deliberate refusal to pay priority debts and (f) for failure to comply with a county court judgement for the payment of non-priority debts.

Mr Shailesh Vara: Data relating to the criminal courts charge for the period April to September 2015 will be published on 17 December 2015.Enforcement action is taken against the total amount an offender owes and offenders are often ordered to pay more than one type of financial imposition.The cost of enforcing the criminal courts charge cannot be separated from the total cost of enforcing all types of court ordered financial impositions.It is not possible to identify how many people have had a criminal courts charge imposed in magistrates or crown courts or for specific offences without carrying out a manual search of all financial imposition accounts which would incur disproportionate costs.

Children: Protection

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he intends to respond to the report of the Children's Commissioner, Protecting children from harm, published in November 2015.

Caroline Dinenage: I refer my Honourable Friend to the response of the Secretary of State for Education to this question.

Environment Protection: Civil Proceedings

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges on the UK's ability to meet the requirement in the EU Public Participation Directive for claimants to have prior certainty in relation to costs protection.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Government’s proposals to revise the costs capping scheme for environmental legal challenges in England and Wales have been brought forward in light of recent developments in case law. Following those judgments the Government has made an assessment and considers there to be scope for introducing measured adjustments to the current regime within the framework of EU law, including the Public Participation Directive.

Ministry of Justice: Employment Agencies

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department has spent on agency workers to cover uniformed operational support staff in each month since May 2015; how many such workers have been employed as cover for uniformed operational support staff in each month since January 2014; and how many such workers have been employed as cover for clerical staff in each month since May 2015.

Andrew Selous: We only use temporary staff to fill business critical posts and essential services where they can provide a fast, flexible and efficient way to obtain necessary skills that are not currently available.Spend on Agency Workers to Cover Operational Uniformed StaffMay 2015£2,218,619.14Jun 2015£2,473,726.29Jul 2015£1,698,046.80Aug 2015£1,404,595.28Sep 2015£1,291,901.70Oct 2015£1,296,688.61Number of Agency Workers to cover Uniformed Operational StaffJan 2014928Feb 20141013Mar 20141113Apr 20141107May 20141128Jun 20141093Jul 2014996Aug 20141118Sep 20141118Oct 20141203Nov 20141268Dec 20141277Jan 20151249Feb 20151363Mar 20151355Apr 20151320May 20151256Jun 2015802Jul 2015668Aug 2015639Sep 2015563Oct 2015492Nov 2015516Number of Agency Workers to cover Clerical Agency StaffMay 20152475Jun 20152458Jul 20152509Aug 20152446Sept 20152389Oct 20152398

Offensive Weapons: Confiscation Orders

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many incidents of confiscation of (a) knives, (b) firearms and (c) other weapons in (i) magistrates' and (ii) Crown courts there were in each year since 2010.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Department takes the issue of security within courts extremely seriously and has a robust security and safety system to protect all court users and the judiciary. Security procedures, including the detection technology used, is continuously reviewed to ensure that security is as effective as possible’The number of confiscated knives, firearms and other weapons in Magistrates and Crown Courts are as follows:KnivesFirearms (incl. Replicas)Other weapons **Financial yearCrownMagistratesCrownMagistratesCrownMagistrates12/13*3221252614246232513/1470531087241002641814/153,4693,4391219Currently unavailableTotal4,4967,79925571,2488,743* Figures for 2012/13 include data for an additional 8 week period from 1 February 2012 when the Total Facilities Management (TFM) contract was introduced.  ** ’Other weapons’ are any items Security Officers deem could be used as a weapon, includes for 2014/15 items such as glass bottles and items which would not have been deemed as weapons. Robust analysis of the data is underway.The figures provided do not cover the period prior to 1 February 2012 as there was no consolidated reporting of items confiscated from court users prior to the introduction of the Total Facilities Management contract. For the purpose of this answer only full financial years have been provided.Analysis of the data for 2014/15 captured in the “other category” is currently underway to establish which items are or could be deemed as weapons, as the currently centrally held data represents a “catch all” and therefore may be misleading. I will write to the Hon. Member as soon as possible to provide clarity on that category.

Prisons: Mobile Phones

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many unauthorised mobile telephones and sim cards were detected in prisons in each year since 2010.

Andrew Selous: It is a criminal offence to possess a mobile phone or component part in a prison. The National Offender Management Service collates information on all confiscated mobile phones and SIM cards, which are sent to a central unit for interrogation. Data on confiscated phones has been collated since April 2010.We already use a range of devices, including signal detectors and body scanners to detect mobile phones, as well as blocking technology to disrupt mobile phone signals. The Chancellor announced in the spending review that we will invest in more safety improvements to stamp out the organisation of crime from within prisons, including funding for tackling illicit mobile phones and investing in body scanners.In addition, in March 2015 Royal Assent was granted for the Serious Crime Act, which allows NOMS to apply for a court order to compel Communication Service Providers to disconnect illicit mobile phones and SIM cards being used in a prison. This new legislation gives NOMS greater capability to reduce the number of phones in prisons. It is envisaged that the legislation will be implemented by the end of the year.The table below provides the number of ‘finds’ for each calendar year up to 2014. One ‘find’ could constitute a phone only, a SIM card only, or a mobile phone with one SIM card or media card inside. YearNumber of finds2010 (April-December only)675620117789201273012013745120149572All figures in this answer have been drawn from live administrative data systems which may be amended at any time. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Andy Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many recorded violent incidents by type there have been in the prison system in each month since May 2010.

Andrew Selous: Statistics for assaults by type are published quarterly in Table 7 of the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin. This is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/472712/Safety-in-custody-summary-q2-2015.xlsMonthly statistics for assaults are not published, as they would not show any clear indication of trends.

Witnesses: Video Recordings

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish his Department's evaluation of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999 Section 28 pilots; and whether he plans to roll out provision of Section 28.

Mike Penning: Pre-trial cross examination under Section 28 of the YJCEA 1999 was piloted in three Crown Court centres. Fieldwork for a process evaluation of the pilot has been completed. A report is being prepared for publication, subject to standard quality assurance checks. The decision on the roll out of Section 28 will be made in due course, following the results of the evaluation.

Immigration: Appeals

Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and (b) Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) hearing centres have closed in (i) London and (ii) the UK in the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: No First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) or Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) hearing centres in London, or the UK, have closed within the last five years.

Immigration: Appeals

Meg Hillier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) and (b) Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) hearing centres are projected to close in (i) London and (ii) the UK in the next five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: There are currently no plans to close any First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum hearing centres.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Talktalk Group: Cybercrime

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what information he has received from TalkTalk concerning the cause of its recent cyber-security breach and the measures it has put in place to prevent another such breach.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government has been in contact with TalkTalk from the early stages of this incident, but this remains primarily a matter for the company itself and for law enforcement.

Telecommunications

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2015 to Question 6371, when he plans that the reforms to the Electronic Communications Code will come into effect; if he will ensure that the new Code contains powers for mobile operators to more easily upgrade and share sites; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government remains committed to delivering a reformed Electronic Communications Code that is clear, fit for purpose, and supports improvements in network coverage which provides consumers with a choice of high quality telecommunications services. We will update Parliament on plans in due course.

Department for Work and Pensions

Employment Schemes: Lone Parents

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how he takes account of the wellbeing of children in agreeing the activities which lone parents are required to undertake as part of their action plan or claimant commitment.

Priti Patel: The claimant commitment, which Work Coaches put together with claimants, sets requirements that are tailored for a broad range of circumstances, including for matters relating to the wellbeing of children. These reasonable requirements are recorded within the jobseeker’s agreement or action plan.Where appropriate, the claimant commitment may limit the hours lone parents claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance are available for work to a minimum of 16 hours a week based on their caring responsibilities.In addition, lone parents with children aged 12 or under have the right to restrict their availability for work and work-related activities to their children’s normal school or early education hours.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.125 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what estimate he has made of the number of single claimants under 35 without dependent children living in social housing who are receiving more than the local housing allowance in housing benefit in (a) total and (b) each local authority.

Justin Tomlinson: We estimate that there are approximately 80,000 single claimants under 35 without dependent children living in the social sector who currently receive more than the relevant local housing allowance rate. However, not all claimants in this category will be affected by the announced policy as it will only apply from April 2018, where a new tenancy is taken out or a tenancy is renewed after April 2016.Tenants who take on a new tenancy or renew a tenancy will have the opportunity to consider whether they can afford to take on the property before committing to it. As such it is not possible to accurately estimate the proportion of single people without children that will be affected by this policy in 2018.As the overall estimate is based on survey data, it is not possible to provide an estimate by Local Authority due to sample size issues.

Housing Benefit

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.125 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether the cap on housing benefit for single claimants under 35 will apply to those in receipt of disability benefits.

Justin Tomlinson: The existing exemptions that already apply to private rented sector tenants aged less than 35 will be carefully considered prior to implementing the cap for similar tenants living in the social rented sector.

Universal Credit

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of tax credit claimants who will be migrated to universal credit in each year to 2020-21.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what modelling his Department has done to estimate the potential effect on household income for tax credit claimant families who are migrated to universal credit before 2020; and if he will place that modelling in the Library.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.123 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what estimate he has made of the effect of uprating the individual threshold in the minimum income floor for self-employed people on the household income of a tax credit claimant family with two children and one self-employed earner under the age of 25 earning the national minimum wage.

Priti Patel: The government is committed to moving the UK from a high tax, high welfare, low wage society to a lower tax, lower welfare, higher wage society. This remains the case, and Universal Credit (UC) is delivering this.UC is fundamentally different from the current legacy benefit system and supports people into work and encourages them to earn more.Therefore there is no meaningful way of comparing an unreformed Tax Credit system with UC. The Government has committed to transitional arrangements as we reform the benefits and Tax Credit system. Those transferred by DWP from tax credits to UC will receive Transitional Protection. In addition, estimates of entitlements under UC of the sort requested will vary depending on assumptions on the level of earnings.

Winter Fuel Payments: Dundee

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many (a) households and (b) people in Dundee receive winter fuel payments; and what the average value of each award will be this year.

Justin Tomlinson: The information requested is not available. The Winter Fuel Payment caseload and expenditure information for winter 2014-15 is here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/winter-fuel-payment-recipient-and-household-figures-2014-to-2015.

Personal Independence Payment

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish the criteria used for determining the points allocation given to a person receiving dialysis at home for the purpose of a personal independence payment allocation.

Justin Tomlinson: The PIP Assessment Guide for Health Professionals carrying out assessments includes guidance on the assessment criteria and how they should be applied. Activity 3 – ‘Managing therapy or monitoring a health condition’ (page 97) explains how to assess a person receiving dialysis at home. This guidance can be accessed on the gov.uk website:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/449043/pip-assessment-guide.pdf

Personal Independence Payment

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of personal independence payment (a) applications and (b) appeals were successful in (i) Hull and (ii) the UK in the latest period for which figures are available.

Justin Tomlinson: Information concerning part A is available here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/personal-independence-payment-statisticshttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-and-gender-recognition-certificate-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2015The information concerning part B is below.Personal Independence PaymentNationalHullNumber Cleared at Tribunal HearingNumber In favour DFNumber Cleared at Tribunal HearingNumber In favour DFApril 15- June 15793144956023(DF refers to Decision in Favour of the appellant).

Children: Maintenance

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many calls were made to the Child Maintenance Options Service in each month since January 2015.

Priti Patel: The number of inbound calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service from January 2015 to the end of October 2015 is shown in the table below:   Month  Number of calls received by the Child Maintenance Options Service  Jan-15  33,010  Feb-15  31,020  Mar-15  36,450  Apr-15  33,370  May-15  32,590  Jun-15  37,580  Jul-15  40,530  Aug-15  38,010  Sep-15  45,340  Oct-15  39,800Notes: - Data Sourced from Child Maintenance Options Monthly MI Service Pack - Data rounded to nearest 10

Children: Maintenance

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many monthly Child Maintenance Service new applications from January 2015 were (a) former Child Support Agency (CSA) cases affected by reactive CSA case closure, (b) former CSA cases affective by proactive CSA case closure and (c) other new applications.

Priti Patel: From January 2015 to August 2015 there have been approximately 75,200 applications made to the Child Maintenance Service.6,800 of these were made by former CSA cases affected by reactive case closure, 22,000 were made by former CSA cases affected by proactive case closure and 46,400 were new applications. Notes:Total Child Maintenance Service applications can be found in table 1 of the Child Maintenance Service 2012 Scheme Experimental Statistics https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-schemeA system issue has been identified which impacts New Application Intake figures. Investigations have been carried out which identified incorrect duplication of New Applications. Figures have been adjusted to account for these duplicatesCases have been linked between CSA systems and CMS Systems using the paying and receiving parents national insurance numbers.Figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

Children: Maintenance

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the total Child Maintenance Service caseload at the end of August 2015 were arrears only cases.

Priti Patel: Information on total number of arrears only cases is not routinely recorded for management information purposes and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Universal Credit: Payments

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make it his policy to ensure that universal credit claimants are routinely asked if they require the alternative paying arrangement in order to protect vulnerable women and children from experiencing financial abuse.

Priti Patel: Work coaches already assess claimants’ situations on a case by case basis. At the initial interview, they discuss Personal Budgeting Support and asses the claimaint’s need for alternative payment arrangements (APA). The work coach maintains an on-going conversation with the claimant at subsequent interviews, to ensure they are happy with the arrangements.We have the facility to split payments to members of the household where necessary.Work coaches can signpost vulnerable claimants to further help and support where necessary.

Children: Maintenance

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many of the case groups with a current child maintenance liability within the 2012 statutory child maintenance scheme in August 2015 involve a non-resident parent with (a) one case, (b) two cases, (c) three cases and (d) four or more cases.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not routinely recorded for management information purposes and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Children: Maintenance

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of the cases groups with a current liability using the 2012 statutory child maintenance scheme in August 2015 were due to pay via (a) the CMS Calculation and Collection Service and (b) Direct Pay.

Priti Patel: As at August 2015, 30% of cases paid via the CMS Calculation and Collection Service and 70% of cases paid via Direct Pay.Information on Service Type (Case based) is set out on Page 6 of the Child Maintenance Service 2012 Scheme Experimental Statistics and Page 8 of the tables which can be accessed online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme-aug-2013-to-aug-2015-experimentalNote:Percentages are rounded to the nearest whole number.Accurate information by case group could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Food Banks

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will list the (a) location and (b) dates of visits he has made to food banks since May 2010.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP Ministers have visited a number of third sector organisations, faith groups, civil society organisations and charities, including food banks since May 2010.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Training

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to version 4.3 of JSP 441 Defence Records Management Policy and Procedures, for what period training centres are required to maintain records in relation to (a) trainee attendance and (b) courses held; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Julian Brazier: The Ministry of Defence's (MOD) policy for the capture, management and final disposal, including transfer to The National Archives, of the MOD's records is detailed in Joint Service Publication (JSP) 441-Defence Records Management Policy and Procedures. However it is important to note that not all documents are official records. The MOD only retains documents worthy of permanent preservation which are judged to have short or long term corporate value. For example a Training Centre may not retain attendance lists but the qualification attained would be included in the individual's service record.A copy of JSP 441 has been placed in the Library of the House and can also be found on the Gov.uk website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/jsp-441-defence-records-management-policy-and-procedures--2JSP 441 advises that records relating to the development of the business unit's personnel or human resources through formally and informally delivered training activities, are to be retained for at least 15 years after which they are to be reviewed for on-going business reasons or potential historical value. These records may include records created by training centres relating to trainee attendance and courses held. If this review deems that these records are no longer required, then they are to be destroyed.

Armed Forces: Training

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answers of 2 December 2015 to Questions 17676, 17682, 17679, 17694 and 17681, what statistical data was used in the assessment process to close (a) MOD Fairbourne and (b) MOD Llanrwst; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the statistical data contained in his Department's Future Development and Adventure Training review.

Mr Julian Brazier: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans (Mark Lancaster) on 4 December 2015 to Question number 18405. Namely, the key documents will be placed in the Library of the House following the appropriate redactions and these will contain statistical data.



18405 - QnA extract on Armed Forces Training
(Word Document, 14.63 KB)

Armed Forces: Training

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2015 to Question 17682, what the cost per trainee is of the Eagle training scheme at (a) Force Development Training Centre (FDTC) Bavaria, (b) FDTC Grantown-on-Spey, (c) FDTC Danesford/Weston on the Green/Halton and (e) overseas Eagles; and what the location is of the overseas Eagles training.

Mr Julian Brazier: The highest priority for UK based Force Development Training Centres (FDTC) is the delivery of Phase One and Phase Two formal training. The EAGLEs training scheme makes use of any irreducible spare capacity. Therefore, costs for EAGLEs training at UK based FDTCs cannot be separated out from overall training costs at those centres.For Financial Year 2015-16:EAGLEs training at FDTC Bavaria has a fixed cost per person estimated at £488.00.The current projection for the planned 600 places for overseas EAGLEs training is £587.00 per person.Overseas Eagles training is carried out in Austria, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and Norway.

Syria: Military Intervention

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what planning he has undertaken to ensure that any UN airstrikes in Syria are (a) co-ordinated with all participating countries and (b) do not harm UN relations with the Russian Federation.

Michael Fallon: UK airstrikes are undertaken as part of the Global Coalition's counter-Daesh campaign and are coordinated by the Coalition's Combined Air Operations Centre based at Al Udeid in Qatar. UK aircraft also abide by the provisions and procedures in the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Russia which aims to prevent flight safety incidents over Syria and Iraq.

Islamic State

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assurances he sought from his French counterpart that, in providing British surveillance assistance to the French bombing of identified ISIS operational buildings in Raqqa following the ISIS-inspired terrorist attacks in Paris, the French military avoided any civilians being killed as collateral damage from the bombings.

Michael Fallon: France is operating alongside the UK as part of the international Coalition against Daesh. All Coalition air operations are planned in accordance with international law and every precaution is taken to minimise collateral damage and civilian casualties.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Ian Mearns: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) apprentice ratings and (b) officer cadets the Royal Fleet Auxiliary has trained in each year since 2009-10.

Mr Julian Brazier: The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) started an Apprentice scheme with Ratings in 2015 and so far 50 apprentices have started training.The numbers of Officer Cadets the RFA has trained in each year since 2009-10 are as follows:2009-10252010-11252011-12252012-13252013-14252014-15252015-1630 (to date)

Military Bases: Grantown-on-Spey

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 2 December 2015 to Question 17679, for what reasons the maintenance costs for FDTC Grantown-on-Spey cannot be broken down; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Julian Brazier: Maintenance costs for Grantown-On-Spey are accounted within the larger RAF Lossiemouth budget and costs could not be broken down and identified.More generally, I refer the hon. Member to the answer my hon. Friend the Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans (Mark Lancaster) gave on 7 December 2015 to Question number 18570. Some costs for some previous years may be available and Ministry of Defence officials are reviewing available data from a variety of sources. The Minister for Defence Personnel and Veterans will write to the hon. Member and place a copy of his letter in the Library of the House.

Defence: Finance

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the planned schedule of disbursements from the Joint Security Fund is for (a) his Department and (b) the security and intelligence agencies in each year from 2016-17 to 2020-21.

Michael Fallon: The Ministry of Defence will be able to spend £2.1 billion from the Joint Security Fund over the rest of this Parliament. The annual profile is subject to formal confirmation of the Chancellor's settlement for defence expected later this month.Use of the Joint Security Fund by the Security and Intelligence Agencies is a matter for the Cabinet Office.

Military Bases: Religious Buildings

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many military chapels there are in England and Wales; and how many such chapels are registered to conduct (a) same-sex and (b) other marriages.

Penny Mordaunt: The Ministry of Defence has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Army: Recruitment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will set out what his Department's expenditure on television recruitment campaigns was for the (a) army and (b) army reserve in each of the last five years.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on television recruitment campaigns for the (a) Royal Navy and (b) Royal Navy Reserve in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 , (iii) 2012-13, (iv) 2013-14 and (v) 2014-15.

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department spent on television recruitment campaigns for the (a) Royal Air Force and (b) Royal Air Force Reserve in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12, (iii) 2012-13, (iv) 2013-14 and (v) 2014-15.

Penny Mordaunt: The table below details how much each of the three Services spent on television recruitment campaigns for both Regular and Reserve Armed Forces personnel in each of the last five financial years.Financial Year/Service 2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-15£ millionsRoyal Navy1.801.502.804.457.46ArmyNot heldNot held2.99*1.281.42**Royal Air Force-3.12.252.673.92*From 1 October 2012 to 31 March 2013**Figure for Financial Year 2014-15 is less than previously reported. This is because the previous figure included production and other costs.

Ministry of Defence Police

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what expenditure has been allocated to the Ministry of Defence Police in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17, (c) 2017-18, (d) 2018-19 and (e) 2019-20.

Mr Julian Brazier: The Budget for the Ministry of Defence Police is as follows:Financial Year2015-162016-172017-182018-192019-20Budget £ millions132.536138.367137.161136.960138.126NotesBudget figure for 2015-16 includes In-Year Savings adjustmentFigures for 2016-17 onwards are provisional control totals until the implications of the Strategic Defence and Security Review have been worked through

Ministry of Defence Police

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Ministry of Defence Police Officers he estimates will be employed by his Department in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17, (c) 2017-18, (d) 2018-19 and (e) 2019-20.

Mr Julian Brazier: The number of Ministry of Defence Police (MDP) officers employed by the Ministry of Defence is estimated as follows:Financial Year2015-162016-172017-182018-192019-20MDP Officers2,6662,6312,6312,6312,631Note: Figures are for funded posts and figures for 2016-17 onwards are provisional until the implications of the Strategic Defence and Security Review have been worked through.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Refugees: Syria

Paul Scully: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, when the Government will inform local authorities of the increased funding that will be available for housing Syrian refugees.

Richard Harrington: The first 12 months of a refugee's resettlement costs are funded by Government using the Overseas Development Aid budget.In November 2015 the Government announced around £129 million to assist with local authority costs over years 2-5 for those local authorities who are resettlling refugees under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme. This is unringfenced funding and it will be for local authorities to decide how to use the funding to support the refugees they resettle.

Fracking: Lancashire

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what he weight he plans to give to the views of people living close to the proposed shale gas well at Roseacre and Preston New Road in the process for considering planning appeals by Cuadrilla Resources to build wells at those sites.

James Wharton: A planning appeal is a quasi-judicial process, and every application needs to be considered on its individual merits, with due process, in light of the relevant material considerations. To avoid prejudicing the decisions, I should not comment further but can reassure my hon. Friend that all relevant issues identified by local people in the current appeals by Cuadrilla Resources will be given very careful consideration.

Planning Permission: Rural Areas

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to the publication, Towards a one nation economy: A 10-point plan for boosting rural productivity, how many rural exception sites for starter homes will be made available in 2015.

Brandon Lewis: Rural exception sites are identified by communities to meet a local housing need. We are currently consulting on the provision of Starter Homes on such sites and subject to the outcome will bring forward new policy in 2016. We will be supporting communities in bringing these sites forward.

Scotland Office

Universal Credit: Scotland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, when he last met with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to discuss the rollout of universal credit across Scotland.

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the introduction of the Work and Health Programme in Scotland.

David Mundell: I and my officials have regular engagement with colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions on a range of important matters, including the rollout of universal credit and fulfilling our commitment to devolve employment support currently delivered by the Work Programme and Work Choice. In addition, I also discuss Welfare related issues in my regular meetings with Local Authorities across Scotland.

Iron and Steel: Scotland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, on what dates since 19 October 2015 Scotland Office Ministers and officials and their counterparts at UK Trade and Investment have met to discuss the Scottish steel industry; what issues affecting that industry were discussed on each occasion; and if he will make a statement.

David Mundell: The Government has created three working groups to respond to the issues affecting the steel industry; on competitiveness and productivity, procurement and international comparisons. Each group meets regularly and updates have been provided by the Scotland Office or Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) at each meeting of the Scottish Steel Task Force. Officials from the Scottish Government are invited to attend all working group meetings.The working group on competitiveness and productivity includes representatives from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and has been considering, amongst other things, issues relating to exports and foreign and direct investment. It has met three times since 19 October (28 October, 11 November and 8 December). In addition, a workshop was held on 18 November.As a consequence of these deliberations, work is being done by BIS and UKTI that will result in increased visibility of UK Export Finance (UKEF) with the UK steel sector. Improvements will also be made to the identification of forthcoming international projects requiring a high steel content with better mechanisms to share these opportunities with the UK steel sector. UKTI have also been working closely with Scottish Development International to support them in trying to identify potential international investors that may be interested in the Tata Steel plate mills at Dalzell and Clydebridge.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Rivers: Hertfordshire

Sir Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 22 June 2015 to Question 2734, what changes to phosphate pollution levels in Hertfordshire's chalk rivers have been recorded over the past 12 months; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: Overall, the phosphate levels in Hertfordshire’s rivers have remained stable over the past 12 months. Phosphate can remain present in river sediments for a number of years, and it can take five to 10 years to show any signs of ecological recovery following phosphate reductions.

White Fish

Mrs Sheryll Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2015 to Question 16561, if she will publish her response to the European Commission's proposals referred to on bass management.

George Eustice: I am finalising the UK approach on management of all stocks, including bass, for negotiation at the December Fisheries Council. We do not publish the UK negotiating position, however my officials, in consultation with me and their counterparts in the Devolved Administrations, have been discussing our views with the European Commission, the Presidency and other Member States. We have also been taking on board the views of stakeholders. I can assure the honourable member that I will be seeking an outcome on bass management which is based on achieving sustainability of the stock and which recognises the interests of the commercial and recreational fishing sectors.

Weather

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of its ability to (a) forecast and (b) mitigate the impact of extreme weather events on the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart: The Flood Forecasting Centre – jointly operated by the Environment Agency and Met Office – combines world class science, knowledge and experience on meteorology and hydrology to forecast flood risk. The daily assessment of risk enables extra time for emergency responders to prepare.The Government has recently announced funding for a £97m supercomputer that will cement the UK’s position as a world leader in weather and climate prediction. In addition to this, the Environment Agency operates a flood forecasting and warning service for over 3000 local communities at risk from both rivers and the sea. Advice is provided by phone and text to over 1.1m home and business owners when their property is at risk.Further investment to improve timely and accurate information to the public is underway. A £6m programme of improvements to weather radar will be completed this year and live data on river levels from across England was made available on the Government’s website earlier this year.Climate change is factored into all the modelling work that the Environment Agency does, but in light of this extreme weather we must look at that modelling and ensure it is fit for purpose for future decisions.

Water Supply

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to safeguard water supplies in the event of a terrorist attack.

Rory Stewart: In accordance with the Security and Emergency Measures (Water and Sewerage Undertakers) Direction 1998, issued under the provisions of section 208 of the Water Industry Act 1991, water companies are required to produce plans to deal with all types of emergency situations. This includes ensuring appropriate preventative measures are in place to secure the water supply from deliberate harm, as well as plans to deal with a situation if it were to arise. These plans are regularly tested and updated where necessary and are subject to an independent check every year.Providing expert security advice is integral to the function of protecting national security against threats. Defra and the water industry work closely with the Centre for the Protection for National Infrastructure on the protection of water supply and on the reduction of its vulnerability to terrorism and other threats.As I am sure you will understand, details of the specific arrangements or any procedures related to national security are highly sensitive and cannot be disclosed.

HM Treasury

Treasury: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, on how many occasions a special adviser in his Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

Harriett Baldwin: As has been the case under successive Administrations, civil servants, including special advisers, may routinely accompany their Ministers on official visits. Information relating to Ministers' overseas visits are published on my Department’s website, as part of the Government’s wider transparency agenda.All ministerial travel is undertaken in accordance with the Ministerial Code.

Corporation Tax: Scotland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the Scottish economy of devolution of corporation tax to Northern Ireland.

Mr David Gauke: Devolution of a corporation tax rate-setting power to the Northern Ireland Assembly has the potential to help rebalance the Northern Ireland economy. The UK Government will activate this power if the Northern Ireland parties meet their commitments in the Stormont House Agreement, which includes demonstrating that its finances are on a sustainable footing for the long-term.It is not possible to determine the exact impact of devolution on any other parts of the UK as any impact will depend on a number of factors, including the rate set and when the regime comes into effect. But a thriving, prosperous Northern Ireland will have benefits for the whole UK economy, not just Northern Ireland.

Defence: Finance

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what conditionality is attached to disbursements from the Joint Security Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: The Spending Review set out the allocation of the Joint Security Fund for the Ministry of Defence and the Intelligence Agencies totalling £3.5bn over 5 years.The Joint Security Fund will be used to deliver the investments set out in the Strategic Defence and Security Review. The allocation of funding is conditional on annual spending limits that were agreed at the Spending Review. As with all public expenditure, Managing Public Money sets out how public funds must be spent, including the principles of regularity and propriety.

Enterprise Zones

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) rural and (b) urban areas designated enterprise zones in the most recent round of bidding.

Greg Hands: The full list of successful Enterprise Zones, which is available to view online, was published by the Department of Communities and Local Government following the Spending Review announcement.www.gov.uk/government/news/the-new-enterprise-zones

Apprentices: Wales

Nia Griffith: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the revenue that is likely to accrue from Welsh employers as a result of the apprenticeship levy in each of the next five years.

Greg Hands: The apprenticeship levy will apply across the UK and will be collected from employers on a UK wide basis. An allowance of £15,000 means only those with a paybill exceeding £3million will have to pay it.We are already working with the Welsh Government and the other devolved administrations to ensure they can get their fair share of the revenue and, as far as possible, to develop a system for administering the levy which complements the skills and apprenticeship policies of each of the devolved administrations.We are committed to doing all we can to make the system work for employers wherever they are in the UK.

Capita

Helen Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Financial Conduct Authority is taking to ensure that Capita Financial Managers Ltd (a) are investigated for their role in the running of and (b) pay compensation to people who invested in the Connaught Income Fund.

Harriett Baldwin: This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which is operationally independent from Government.This question has been passed on to the FCA. They will reply directly to the Honorable Member Helen Jones by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Investment Trusts

Helen Jones: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Financial Conduct Authority on its investigations into the operation of the Connaught Income Fund; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: Treasury Ministers have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.Details of ministerial meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Stamp Duty Land Tax: Foreign Nationals

Dr Tania Mathias: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 3.70 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether it is his policy that the new rate of stamp duty land tax on second homes will apply to foreign investors and people not domiciled in the UK.

Mr David Gauke: Foreign investors and people not domiciled in the UK will be treated in exactly the same way as UK residents under these new rates. If purchasers own another property anywhere else in the world and are purchasing an additional property in England, Wales or Northern Ireland they will be charged under the new rates.

Olympic Games 2012: Culture

Diana Johnson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to paragraph 1.271 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, how much funding has been allocated to cultural facilities at the Olympic Park.

Greg Hands: The government announced at Autumn Statement 2014 that it would provide £141m of funding for the cultural and university quarter in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 confirmed that the government will provide funding for this.

Job Creation: Midlands

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Oral Statement of 25 November 2015, Official Report, column 1358, what the evidential basis is for his statement that the Midlands is creating jobs three times faster than London and the South East; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: The independent Office for National Statistics publishes labour market statistics for the 12 UK regions every month.According to the latest data which covers the 3 months to September 2015, the total number of people in employment in London and the South East has increased by 53,000 since the same period one year earlier (the 3 months to September 2014). This equates to an increase of 0.6 per cent on the employment level one year ago.According to the same data, the total number of people in employment in the East and West Midlands combined (the ‘Midlands’) has increased by 101,000 over the same period. This equates to an increase of 2.1 per cent on the employment level in the Midlands one year ago. This rate of increase is more than 3 times faster than the rate for London and the South East.

Business: Investment

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Oral Statement of 25 November 2015, Official Report, column 1358, what the evidential basis is for his statement that business investment has grown more than twice as fast as consumption; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: The latest official figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the volume of business investment increased by 30 per cent between Q1 2010 and Q3 2015. Over the same time period, private consumption increased by 11 per cent.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Emily Thornberry: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to Questions 17623, 17624, 17625, 17626 and 17627, tabled on 25 November 2015 for answer on 30 November 2015.

Mr David Gauke: I have done so.

Economic Growth: North of England

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the evidential basis is for the reference in his oral contribution of 25 November 2015, Official Report, column 1358, to the north having grown faster than the south; and if he will make a statement.

Greg Hands: This was based on data available from the Office for National Statistics December 2014 release regarding Regional Gross Value Added.

Written Questions: Government Responses

Emily Thornberry: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to Questions 16853 and 16938, tabled on 18 November 2015 for answer on 23 November 2015.

Mr David Gauke: I have done so.

Welfare Tax Credits: Dundee

Chris Law: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how  many (a) households and (b) people are in receipt of tax credits in Dundee; and how many children are in each such household.

Damian Hinds: The latest information on the number of tax credit recipients in the Dundee City local authority can be found in table 3 of the April 2015 Personal Tax Credits provisional awards geographical analyses published statistics, found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/child-and-working-tax-credits-statistics-provisional-awards-geographical-analyses-december-2013These statistics are published in April and December each year.

Income Tax

Seema Malhotra: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the change in tax income receipts arising from net migration being limited to tens of thousands.

Mr David Gauke: No estimate has been made of the change in income tax receipts arising from net migration.Since May 2010 the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has served as the Government’s independent fiscal watchdog. This includes responsibility for issuing five-year forecasts for the economy and public finances, at least twice a year, and assessment of the key sensitivities to this medium term forecast.The OBR has not viewed changes to net migration as one of the key risks or sensitivities to the medium term forecast.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Carbon Sequestration

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what bids her Department received for the carbon capture and storage technology completion which the Government is no longer funding.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 08 December 2015



The CCS Competition opened in April 2012, with bids invited by July 2012. Eight bids were submitted: North East Oxyfuel Project, Peterhead CCS, Teesside Low Carbon, White Rose (Capture Power), Captain Clean Energy Limited, Don Valley CCS, National Grid Humber Cluster and National Grid Teesside Cluster. Four full chain projects were shortlisted in October 2012. On 14 January 2013, shortlisted bidders submitted revised proposals and later that year the Government announced two preferred bidders, Capture Power Ltd’ White Rose Project and Shell’s Peterhead Project, who were later awarded contracts to undertake Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) studies. Captain Clean Energy and Teesside Low Carbon, the remaining two shortlisted bidders, were appointed as reserve projects until such time as FEED contracts were signed.

Carbon Sequestration

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department made of the value for money of the carbon capture and storage project bids.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 08 December 2015



The provision of ring-fenced capital support for CCS was judged against other Government funding priorities as part of the Spending Review. We are currently engaging with both bidders regarding the implications of this decision on their Bids.

Carbon Sequestration

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what discussions she had with bidders for the carbon capture and storage competition prior to the decision to withdraw funding earmarked for that competition.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 08 December 2015



Through the CCS Competition the Department has held discussions on a regular basis with both Shell and Capture Power Ltd. We continue to engage closely with the two bidders on the implications of the Spending Review decision for their Bids.

Carbon Sequestration

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the Government's future plans are for carbon capture and storage.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 08 December 2015



The Government continues to view CCS as having a potential role in the long-term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors.

Carbon Sequestration

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment she has made of the potential effect on (a) the supply chain and (b) existing infrastructure of the Government's decision to cancel the carbon capture and storage competition.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 08 December 2015



The provision of ring-fenced capital support for CCS was judged against other Government funding priorities as part of the Spending Review. We are engaging closely with the two bidders and wider industry on the implications of the decision. The Government’s view remains that CCS has a potential role in the long term decarbonisation of the UK’s power and industrial sectors.

Carbon Sequestration: Finance

Mr David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how she plans to account for the £1 billion of carbon capture and storage support reallocated at the Spending Review 2015 within her Departmental budget; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government set out its capital budget and priorities for this Spending Review period on 25 November 2015.

Climate Change Convention: Paris

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what participation the UK has had in the sustainable innovation forum hosted by the UN Environment Programme as part of the COP21 climate change conference in Paris.

Andrea Leadsom: The Foreign Secretary’s Special Representative on Climate Change attended the event and spoke on a panel event entitled “what is most needed to embed innovation across public and private sector operations.”

Nuclear Power: Safety

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether she plans to issue revised nuclear safety and security regulations.

Andrea Leadsom: The framework for civil nuclear safety and security is kept under continuous review to ensure that it remains robust, effective and of an appropriate standard.

Carbon Sequestration: Finance

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, to what purposes the ring-fenced capital budget for the carbon capture and storage competition has been reallocated.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 09 December 2015



The Government set out its capital budget and priorities for this Spending Review period on 25 November 2015.

Carbon Sequestration

Callum McCaig: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps her Department is taking in response to the recommendations of the Committee on Climate Change on carbon capture storage and the power sector in its report, Power scenarios for the fifth carbon budget, published in October 2015.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 09 December 2015



The Department is currently considering the Committee on Climate Change’s advice and Government will set the fifth carbon budget in law next year.

Housing: Energy

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she plans to take to improve home energy efficiency.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what targets the Government has set for improving the energy efficiency of low-income homes.

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether it is her policy to replace the Green Deal with other measures to help improve home energy efficiency.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is committed to meeting its legally binding target to help as many fuel poor homes as reasonably practicable reach energy efficiency Band C by 2030, with interim targets on Band E by 2020 and Band D by 2025.This Government has also set a specific goal of insulating 1 million homes by the end of this Parliament, in line with our commitments on fuel poverty.A reformed domestic supplier obligation (ECO) from April 2017 will upgrade the energy efficiency of well over 200,000 homes per year. This will help to tackle the root cause of fuel poverty and continue to deliver on our commitment to help 1 million more homes this Parliament. We are providing support for households to improve their energy efficiency through the new supplier obligation, which will run for 5 years.Our extension of the Warm Home Discount to 2020/21 at current levels of £320m pa will alsohelp households who are at most risk of fuel poverty with their energy bills.

Renewable Energy

Ms Tasmina Ahmed-Sheikh: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what progress her Department expects the UK to make towards its obligation to deliver 15 per cent of energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020 in (a) 2016, (b) 2017, (c) 2018, (d) 2019 and (e) 2020.

Andrea Leadsom: I refer the Hon. Member to the answer I gave to the Hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich on 6 July 2015 to Question 4832:http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2015-06-30/4832/

Energy: Terrorism

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what steps she is taking to safeguard gas and electricity supplies in the event of a terrorist attack.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government takes the security of the energy sector very seriously and DECC works closely with industry and the relevant agencies in order to ensure a robust and proportionate security regime.

Cabinet Office

Big Lottery Fund: Dumfries and Galloway

Richard  Arkless: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many community projects have benefited from monies allocated by Scotland's Big Lottery Fund in Dumfries and Galloway constituency in the last five years.

Mr Rob Wilson: Information on the community projects in the Dumfries and Galloway constituency that have benefited from monies allocated by the Big Lottery Fund in Scotland in the last five years is available on the Big Lottery Fund websitehttps://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/about-big/big-lottery-fund-in-your-constituency.

Government Departments: Salford and Eccles

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what Government property is located in Salford and Eccles constituency.

Matthew Hancock: A list of properties located in the Salford and Eccles constituency drawn from the central database of Government properties and land across the UK, e-PIMS™ is attached. A copy of this will be placed in the Library of the House. Government owned property can be found at:www.gov.uk/find-government-property.Information is only held centrally on the Central Civil Estate. Any information outside of this is held locally by departments.



PDF for Member- Government Property
(PDF Document, 11.13 KB)

Productivity

Conor McGinn: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what comparative assessment he has made of labour productivity in (a) the North West and (b) England.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Labour Productivity
(PDF Document, 230.02 KB)

Wales Office

Wales Office: Official Cars

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, how many journeys he and his Ministers have undertaken in his Department's ministerial car in the 2015-16 session of Parliament to date.

Stephen Crabb: Following my appointment as Secretary of State for Wales in July 2014, I returned the Wales Office’s Ministerial Car, delivering a saving of around £81,000 to the taxpayer for 2015/16.

Wales Office: Official Visits

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what official visits each of the Ministers in his Department have made since July 2014; and what the purpose of each such visit was.

Stephen Crabb: Details of Ministerial visits are published on the Department’s website.

Apprentices: Taxation

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with (a) his ministerial colleagues and (b) his counterpart in the Welsh Government on the operation of the apprenticeship levy in Wales.

Stephen Crabb: We are currently discussing the operation of the apprenticeship levy with the Welsh Government, and other devolved administrations, to ensure they can get their fair share of the revenue and, as far as possible, develop a system for administering the levy which complements the skills and apprenticeship policies of each of the devolved administrations.We are committed to doing all we can to make the system work for employers wherever they are in the UK.

Department of Health

Social Services: Finance

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the King's Fund's quarterly monitoring report, published in October 2015, that reductions in local authority social care budgets are adversely affecting health services.

Alistair Burt: The Department is working closely with both local government and the National Health Service to understand how pressures in adult social care services impact on the NHS, and how the sector can best work together to manage those pressures. The Autumn Statement identified £3.5 billion additional funding for adult social care by 2019/20.Since April, the Government’s £5.3 billion Better Care Fund (BCF) has provided much needed investment in better integrated care through locally developed plans and by putting resources where the local NHS and social services think they’re needed. The BCF has been the impetus for a greater degree of joint strategic commissioning between health and social care across England, with local leaders and clinical experts working closely together to both plan and deliver the most appropriate services for their local populations while making efficient use of limited resources.We are working closely with the Emergency Care Improvement Programme focusing on the 28 most challenged emergency systems and have embedded four social care professionals within the team to provide specific expertise. From this, eight high impact interventions have been developed which can support local systems in reducing Delayed Transfers of Care.Additional resource has been provided to bolster the current sector-led improvement support offer to local authorities, creating a flexible pool of experienced local authority social care experts to provide intensive support to challenged local systems and to deliver action plans designed in consultation with the Directors of Adult Social Services and local NHS colleagues.

Bone Marrow and Stem Cells: Donors

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to improve international cooperation on increasing the number of people on the stem cell and bone marrow registers.

Jane Ellison: International cooperation is an essential element of the provision of stem cells to patients requiring a transplant. Worldwide, 50% of adult stem cell donations and 30% of cord blood donations move across national boundaries.The Government is committed to ensuring that the provision stem cells through the Department’s delivery partners, NHS Blood and Transplant and the Anthony Nolan, is as effective as possible and this includes adopting innovative practice to maximise the chance that donors will be able to donate.The ethnic diversity of the United Kingdom is reflected in adult bone marrow donors through the targeted recruitment of donors. The diverse nature of the UK stem cell resources means that they will play an important part of the global network matching donors to patients. The information supplied from the UK unified registry (Anthony Nolan and NHS Stem Cell Registry) to the global registry (Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide) directly increases the chances that patients across the globe have a chance to find a suitable donor.

Stem Cells: Donors

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Government is taking to increase the level of stem cell donations by people of mixed ethnicity.

Jane Ellison: The Department is supporting the provision of stem cells for patients through our key delivery partners, Anthony Nolan and NHS Blood and Transplant. They continue to specifically recruit adult bone marrow donors from the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities and we have agreed with them a target to recruit at least 3,000 new adult male bone marrow donors from the BAME community this year.It is difficult to find a perfectly matched donor for patients of mixed ethnicity, and for this reason the Department has continued to support the collection of cord blood stem cells. Cord blood stem cells are more tolerant of minor mis-matches and therefore particularly important to patients unable to find a suitable adult bone marrow donor.The Department continues to support the National BAME Transplant Alliance with the aim of raising awareness about the need for stem cell and organ donation, increasing the number of people from a BAME background on the bone marrow and organ donation registers and increasing the number of people from BAME communities who can benefit from either a stem cell or organ transplant.

Bone Marrow and Stem Cells: Donors

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of recent progress in increasing the (a) number of people on and (b) quality of the stem cell and bone marrow registers; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: The total number of registered donors on the Anthony Nolan and NHS Stem Cell Registry continues to expand. In 2010 the total number of registered United Kingdom donors was 770,000 but by the end of 2014 was in excess of one million. Investment by the Department has supported our delivery partners NHS Blood and Transplant and the charity Anthony Nolan to recruit a cohort of young male donors that are approximately six times more likely to be able to donate. Over 19,000 additional donors are planned to be recruited in the current financial year.Quality is a key issue for the clinical usefulness of cord blood samples. The collection of cord blood is arranged to maximise the proportion of samples with the highest quality. The number of banked cord samples of clinical grade continues to increase with in excess of 15,000 now banked.

Donors: Health Education

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans his Department has to work with the Department for Education on increasing awareness in schools of stem cell donation.

Jane Ellison: The Department funds charities such as Anthony Nolan who have campaigns to promote awareness in schools.

Department of Health: Ministerial Policy Advisors

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, on how many occasions a special adviser in his Department accompanied a Minister on an overseas trip since May 2015.

Jane Ellison: A special adviser has accompanied a Minister on one overseas trip since May 2015.

Action on Smoking and Health

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2015 to Question 16779, if he will assess the extent to which grants made by his Department to Action on Smoking and Health were used for activities designed to influence his Department, other departments or Parliament.

Jane Ellison: The conditions applicable to grants awarded to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) are set out in the grant award letters. The Department has made clear that none of this funding is to be used for lobbying purposes.ASH’s compliance with the conditions of the grant is assessed at the grant monitoring meetings held between the Deputy Director of tobacco control and representatives from ASH as well as in the final full year grant monitoring and governance reports.

Health Professions: West Yorkshire

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many doctors and nurses were employed by primary care trusts and clinical commissioning groups covering the West Yorkshire area in (a) 2010 and (b) 2015.

Ben Gummer: The number of doctors and nurses employed by primary care trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) covering the West Yorkshire area is available from the Health and Social Care Information Centre and is shown in the following two tables.Table 1: NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS):Doctors by specified West Yorkshire Primary Care Trusts and CCGs as at the last day of each specified monthFull time equivalentSeptember 2010 1August 20152Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT39..Calderdale PCT3..Kirklees PCT16..Leeds PCT56..Wakefield District PCT32..NHS Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven CCG..-NHS Bradford City CCG..-NHS Bradford Districts CCG..-NHS Calderdale CCG..-NHS Greater Huddersfield CCG..-NHS Leeds North CCG..-NHS Leeds South and East CCG..-NHS Leeds West CCG..-NHS North Kirklees CCG..-NHS Wakefield CCG..-Source: Health and Social Care Information Centre Medical and Dental Workforce CensusHealth and Social Care Information Centre, Provisional NHS HCHS monthly workforce statistics.Notes:The absence of doctors in the 2015 figures reflects a difference in the nature of PCTs and CCGs, from service providers and commissioners to service commissioners.1 September 2010 figures are from the annual workforce census.2 August 2015 figures are from the provisional monthly statistics.These statistics relate to the contracted positions within English NHS organisations and may include those where the person assigned to the position is temporarily absent, for example on maternity leave.CCGs replaced PCTs in April 2013. Accordingly, data is provided for the five PCTs that covered the West Yorkshire area as at 30 September 2010 and the 10 CCGs that cover the West Yorkshire area as at 31 August 2015.'-' denotes zero.'..' denotes not applicable.Figures are rounded to the nearest whole numberExcludes locumsMonthly dataProvisional monthly NHS workforce data figures may be revised from month to month as issues are uncovered and resolved. The monthly workforce data does not include Primary care staff or Bank staff.Data QualityThe Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where changes impact on figures already published, this is assessed but unless it is significant at national level, figures are not changed. Table 2: NHS Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS): Qualified Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting staff in the West Yorkshire area by PCT and CCG as at the last day of each specified monthFull-time equivalentSeptember 20101August 20152Bradford and Airedale Teaching PCT787..Calderdale PCT242..Kirklees PCT462..Leeds PCT919..Wakefield District PCT480..NHS Airedale, Wharfedale and Craven CCG..1NHS Bradford City CCG..-NHS Bradford Districts CCG..13NHS Calderdale CCG..13NHS Greater Huddersfield CCG..3NHS Leeds North CCG..1NHS Leeds South and East CCG..29NHS Leeds West CCG..2NHS North Kirklees CCG..14NHS Wakefield CCG..3Notes:1 September 2010 figures are from the annual workforce census.2 August 2015 figures are from the provisional monthly statistics.CCGs replaced PCTs in April 2013. Accordingly, data is provided for the five PCTs that covered the West Yorkshire area as at 30 September 2010 and the 10 CCGs that cover the West Yorkshire area as at 31 August 2015.In 2011 the bank staff return was ceased. All data (for all years) in this table excludes bank staff.These statistics relate to the contracted positions within English NHS organisations and may include those where the person assigned to the position is temporarily absent, for example on maternity leave.Full-time equivalent figures are rounded to the nearest whole number.'-' denotes zero.'..' denotes not applicable.Data Quality:The Health and Social Care Information Centre seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data but responsibility for data accuracy lies with the organisations providing the data. Methods are continually being updated to improve data quality where changes impact on figures already published. This is assessed but unless it is significant at national level figures are not changed. Impact at detailed or local level is footnoted in relevant analyses.Monthly data:As from 21 July 2010 the Health and Social Care Information Centre has published provisional monthly NHS workforce data. As expected with provisional statistics, some figures may be revised from month to month as issues are uncovered and resolved. The monthly workforce data is not directly comparable with the annual workforce census; it only includes those staff on the Electronic Staff Record (ESR) (i.e. it does not include Primary care staff or Bank staff). There are also new methods of presenting data (headcount methodology is different and there is now a role count). This information is available from September 2009 onwards at the following website:NHS Workforce Statistics, Provisional statistics - Monthly StatisticsSources:Health and Social Care Information Centre Non-Medical Workforce Census.Health and Social Care Information Centre Provisional Monthly Workforce Statistics

Prescription Drugs

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effect of guidance from the General Medical Council on the personal liability taken on by medical professionals when prescribing off-label on the rate of off-label prescribing.

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions his Department has had with the General Medical Council on amending guidance related to the prescription of off-label drugs and subsequent personal liability.

George Freeman: The Government has made no such assessment and has not had discussions with the General Medical Council (GMC) on amending their guidance related to the prescription of off-label drugs and subsequent personal liability. The GMC is responsible for the assessment of its national guidance and this is kept under review as part of GMC’s normal internal governance arrangements.As part of its response to the Off-Patent Drugs Bill, the Government has discussed a range of issues around off-label prescribing with a wide range of stakeholders, including the GMC. Working with the Department of Health, the GMC has recently published a Hot Topic on ‘Prescribing unlicensed medicines.’ This on-line tool explains GMC’s prescribing guidance and assures doctors of the clinical appropriateness of unlicensed and off-label prescribing. A copy of this is available at:http://www.gmc-uk.org/guidance/28349.asp

Prescription Drugs

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what evidence his Department holds on the prevalence of off-label prescribing among (a) specialist clinicians, (b) GPs, (c) nurses and (d) other medical professionals.

George Freeman: The Department does not hold the information requested. The Health and Social care Information Centre has published information on prescribing data by British National Formulary chapter.Where clinically appropriate, off-label prescribing is supported in guidance given to prescribers by both the General Medical Council and by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Prescribing in this way is part and parcel of normal every day clinical practice. It is very common in paediatric and palliative care.Discussions relating to the Access to Medical Treatments (Innovation) Bill are considering how a potential database covering off-label use could be constituted.

All Party Smoking and Health Parliamentary Group: Correspondence

Mr David Nuttall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many items of correspondence his Department has received from (a) the Chair and (b) other members of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison: The Department would incur a disproportionate cost in calculating how many items of correspondence have been received from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health (APPG) in each of the last five years.592 letters from the APPG have been recorded as received by the Department’s Ministers over that period. The Group may also have written to officials direct but this information is not collected centrally.

Medical Examiners: Death Certificates

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 21 October 2015 to Question 12819, if he will provide an update on plans to introduce independent medical examiners to the death certification process.

Ben Gummer: Following the Spending Review, further work on the reforms to death certification will be subject to confirmation of spending priorities through the normal business planning cycle. We will provide an update on the implementation plans and timetables as soon as we are able.

Obesity: Surgery

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment (a) his Department and (b) NHS England have made of the levels of preparedness among clinical commissioning groups (CCG's) for the planned transfer of obesity surgery commissioning responsibilities to CCGs in April 2016.

George Freeman: The responsibility for commissioning severe and complex obesity for Tier 4 services will transfer to CCGs in April 2016. This is one of a number of changes in commissioning responsibility which will be managed between NHS England and CCGs. NHS England will be leading on the contracting for services for 2016/17 to facilitate the smooth handover from 1 April 2016.NHS England is addressing preparedness, both around the technical and financial transfer of budget and contracting responsibility, and supporting CCGs in commissioning of the clinical pathway.The technical impact of these changes is being modelled and formal agreement within NHS England will occur in mid-December. The formal transfer will be part of the annual national Planning Guidance to commissioners, including CCGs that will be issued in early 2016.

Obesity: Surgery

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether it is his policy that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will be required to meet current national service standards for the provision of obesity surgery after the planned transfer of obesity surgery commissioning responsibilities from NHS England to CCGs in April 2016.

George Freeman: CCGs will have the full commissioning responsibility for the obesity services within their remit to set standards for services for their population and to make clinical commissioning policy decisions in terms of patient eligibility with effect from April 2016.NHS England is supporting the transfer of commissioning responsibilities to CCGs by providing clinical guidance on standards for the adult obesity surgery pathway. This guidance is in development, supported by national clinical experts.The draft clinical commissioning policy includes reference to the relevant National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance to support CCGs in determining patient eligibility to obesity surgery. The draft service specification will reflect best practice and describes the standard providers will need to meet for the surgical service.

Obesity: Surgery

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to the Government's response of February 2015 to the consultation entitled Arrangements for the Transfer of Commissioning Responsibilities for Renal Dialysis and Morbid Obesity Surgery Services from NHS England to Clinical Commissioning Groups, what information has been provided to clinical commissioning groups in anticipation of the transfer of responsibilities for obesity surgery in April 2016.

George Freeman: Due to feedback during the consultation for the proposal, the responsibility for commissioning renal dialysis services is not transferring to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) in April 2016.NHS England is supporting the transfer of commissioning responsibilities for obesity surgery services to CCGs by providing technical and operational guidance to commissioners, including undertaking a stocktake of Tier 3 and Tier 4 interfaces within regions to assist CCGs. This guidance is in development. Communications are also supported through national and local meetings between NHS England and CCG representatives on shared issues within the commissioning agenda.

Midwives: Students

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many student midwives there were in England in each of the last five years.

Ben Gummer: The following table shows the total number of student midwives in training in England as at the end of each financial year for the period 2010/11 to 2014/15.Year2010/112011/122012/132013/142014/15Midwives5,6445,9556,3156,4136,662Source: multi professional education and training budget monitoring returns.

Myeloma

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure that the treatment of patients with multiple myeloma is not affected by the (a) delisting of treatments from the Cancer Drugs Fund and (b) ongoing consultation on that Fund's future.

George Freeman: NHS England has advised that a draft treatment pathway for patients with multiple myeloma, which takes into account the potential impact of treatments removed from the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF), is currently being finalised. It is likely to be published early in 2016.The Government remains committed to the Fund. NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are currently consulting on draft proposals on the future direction of the CDF. The consultation is open until 11 February 2016 and further information is available at:www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/cdf-consultation

NHS: Innovation

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to ensure the outcome of the consultation on the future of the Cancer Drugs Fund is co-ordinated with and complements the recommendations of the Accelerated Access Review to ensure improved patient access to innovative treatments.

George Freeman: NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are currently consulting on draft proposals on the future direction of the Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF). The consultation is open until 11 February 2016 and further information is available at:www.engage.england.nhs.uk/consultation/cdf-consultationThe Accelerated Access Review independently chaired by Sir Hugh Taylor, is working with key stakeholders on a range of options for accelerating patient access to innovative products, as set out in the interim report. This includes consideration of the impact of managed access schemes such as proposed in the CDF consultation.

Parkinson's Disease

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what safeguards he plans to put in place to ensure that the proposed £22 billion NHS efficiency savings do not adversely affect the quality of services to people with Parkinson's disease.

Jane Ellison: The Government has committed to invest an additional £10 billion in the National Health Service over this Parliament. Efficiency and high quality care go hand-in-hand; cutting waste and safer care are integral to ensuring better outcomes at a lower cost. The efficiencies the NHS needs to find are linked to the challenge of continued improvements in care across all services, including for people with Parkinson’s disease.

Social Services: Finance

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what comparative assessment he has made of the ability of local authorities  in the (a) poorest and (b) richest areas in England to meet their social care spending needs through a two per cent council tax charge.

Alistair Burt: The Government recognises that councils have varying capacity to raise money through council tax. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government will shortly publish for consultation the provisional local government finance settlement for 2016-17. This will include proposed changes to rebalance support, including to those authorities with social care responsibilities, by taking into account the main resources available to councils, including council tax.

Muscular Dystrophy: Hydrotherapy

Mrs Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will take steps to improve access for patients with muscular dystrophy to hydrotherapy services.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will conduct a national review of hydrotherapy provision.

George Freeman: NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised neurological services, which includes services for patients with neuromuscular disorders. NHS England has published a service specification for neurological care, which sets out what providers must have in place to offer evidence-based, safe and effective services. The specification can be found at the following link:www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/d04-neurosci-spec-neuro.pdfSpecialised neuromuscular care may include referral to local physiotherapy, hydrotherapy or rehabilitation if appropriate, however the commissioning of hydrotherapy services is a matter for local clinical commissioning groups. There are no plans to conduct a national review of hydrotherapy provision.

Mental Health Services: Finance

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the (a) total and (b) per capita expenditure on mental health was in England in each year since 2008.

Alistair Burt: We do not have comparable figures for spending on mental health for the years requested as financial reporting systems changed after 2013 with the formation of NHS England.The table below shows actual expenditure by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on mental health in 2013/14 and 2014/15 and forecast spend in 2015/16. This does not include spending on mental health services directly commissioned by NHS England.Total actual expenditure on mental health by CCGs across all providers for 2013/14 and 2014/15 and the total forecast expenditure for 2015/162013/14 actual spend (£ billion)2014/15 actual spend (£ billion)2015/16 forecast spend (£ billion)9.610.110.6Source: NHS EnglandPublished figures are available from the published primary care trust Summarised Accounts (2007/08 to 2010/11) and the Department of Health Annual Report and Accounts (2011/12 and 2012/13).

Nurses: Migrant Workers

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many nurses trained abroad were recruited by the NHS in each year since 2010.

Ben Gummer: The Department does not hold information on the numbers of National Health Service nurses that have received training outside of the United Kingdom.

Nurses

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nursing posts which are currently (a) vacant and (b) filled by temporary staff in (i) the North West and (ii) England.

Ben Gummer: The information is not collected by the Department.

Doctors: English Language

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that doctors from the EU working in the NHS have adequate English skills to practice.

Ben Gummer: In 2014 powers were given to the General Medical Council to enable them to carry out proportionate language checks on doctors from the European Union who wish to practise in the United Kingdom. This is a major step forward for quality of care and patient safety by ensuring that only doctors with adequate English language skills are able to practise in the UK.Local checks are also carried out by individual employers as part of their recruitment processes.

Mental Health Services: Drugs

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, for what reasons the New Medicine Service is not available to mental health patients.

George Freeman: The conditions/therapy areas selected for the New Medicine Service (NMS) are those where community pharmacies are best able to demonstrate the value of the service and could provide the greatest benefit to patients. The conditions/therapy areas are currently asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, type 2 diabetes, antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy and hypertension.As the commissioners of National Health Service pharmaceutical services it is for NHS England to consider, in light of the best available evidence, whether to negotiate changes to the NMS including whether the NMS should be offered to mental health patients.

Penicillin

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS has spent on penicillin in the last 12 months.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on insulin in the last 12 months.

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS spent on morphine in the last 12 months.

George Freeman: Information on the cost to the National Health Service of penicillin, insulin and morphine is provided.Cost of penicillin, insulin and morphine, as classified in British National Formulary (BNF), in England: 2014/15 (£000’s)Primary Care 1Secondary Care 2Total 3Penicillin 479,830.6170,679.9250,510.5Insulin 5335,204.18,334.2343,538.3Morphine 632,526.89,401.941,928.6Source: Prescription Cost Analysis (PCA) and IMS HEALTH: Hospital Pharmacy Audit, provided by the Health and Social Care Information CentreNotes:1 Primary care net ingredient cost is the basic cost of a drug. It does not take account of discounts, dispensing costs, fees or prescription charges income.2 Secondary care cost of medicine at NHS list price and will not necessarily be the price the hospital paid.3 Total figures may not sum due to rounding.4 Penicillin is defined as all medicines within BNF paragraph 5.1.1 Penicillins.5 Insulin is defined as all medicines contained within BNF paragraph 6.1.1 Insulins.6 Morphine is defined as Morphine contained within BNF paragraphs 1.4.2 Antimotility drugs, 3.9.1 Cough Suppressants and 4.7.2 Opioid Analgesics. All combination medicines containing Morphine have been included.

Blood: Contamination

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2015 to Question 11834, whether the additional £25 million transitional funding announced by the Prime Minister was provided by HM Treasury or from within existing Departmental funds; how much of that funding has been allocated or spent to date; and what new funding for this purpose has been provided in the departmental settlement in the Spending Review 2015.

Jane Ellison: The £25 million was announced by the Prime Minister in March 2015, to support transition to a reformed scheme. The money will come from existing departmental funds. We expect to announce our plans for that money once we have a better understanding of what wider scheme reform might comprise following the outcomes of the consultation.Funding for specific programme budgets, following the Spending Review, will be set out as part of the normal business planning cycle, as we work on the detail of our central budgets over the coming months.

Blood: Contamination

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to the Answer of 22 October 2015 to Question 11834, whether he still intends to open the consultation on reform of support for those affected by contaminated blood products by the end of this year.

Jane Ellison: Reforming the current payment schemes is a priority and we are keen to get this right for those affected.We do not have a firm date for the consultation at this time, but it will be announced as soon as possible.

Mental Health Task Force

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many representatives from the criminal justice system are on the Mental Health Taskforce; and what areas of that sector each represents.

Alistair Burt: Membership of NHS England’s Mental Health Taskforce is drawn from the Department of Health and its arms-length bodies which hold critical responsibilities related to the planning and delivery of care. It also includes representatives from the third sector, providers and professional bodies.Senior representatives from other NHS England work programmes may be invited to advise, participate in decision making or contribute resources where there is a common purpose or objective. Kate Davies OBE, Director for Direct Commissioning of Health & Justice Services, NHS England has contributed to the work of the Task force.Further details about the organisations represented on the Taskforce can be found at:https://www.england.nhs.uk/mentalhealth/wp-content/uploads/sites/29/2015/10/mh-tor-fin.pdfIn recognition of the critical interdependencies with a wide range of services outside the health and care system, the Taskforce was asked to consider the enabling actions required from the wider system, including criminal justice.

Compulsorily Detained Mental Patients

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what proportion of in-patients in each of the last five years have been sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983.

Alistair Burt: The proportion of in-patients who have been detained under the Mental Health Act 1983 in each of the last five years is detailed on the attached table Detentions under the Mental Health Act 1983 as a proportion of people in hospital.



In-patients detained under Mental Health Act 1983
(Excel SpreadSheet, 38.23 KB)

Suicide

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that friends and family of people who have died by suicide receive a copy of the publication Help is at Hand from Public Health England.

Alistair Burt: Help is at Hand is available on the ‘Support after Suicide’ website and to order on the Department’s orderline. Public Health England is working with the voluntary sector and local areas to make sure there is effective distribution.

Women and Equalities

Marriage: Northern Ireland

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent discussions she has had with her Cabinet colleagues on the legal recognition in Northern Ireland of same-sex marriages which have been registered elsewhere in the UK.

Margaret Ferrier: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what assessment she has made of the implications for equal rights of the legal recognition in Northern Ireland of same-sex marriages registered in England, Wales or Scotland.

Caroline Dinenage: The UK government has demonstrated its commitment to marriage for same sex couples by introducing it for England and Wales, and has welcomed its introduction in other jurisdictions, including Scotland.We recognise and respect the devolution settlement in Northern Ireland. The constitutional arrangements in place mean that any decision to extend marriage to same-sex couples in Northern Ireland is a matter for the Northern Ireland Assembly. Officials from the Government Equalities Office speak regularly with colleagues in the Northern Ireland Office regarding these and other equality related matters.